Bloomberg reported Friday that Reddit, the popular online discussion platform, signed a potentially controversial $60 million deal to provide access to its user-generated content for training artificial intelligence systems.

So, they’ve inked this deal before Reddit’s anticipated debut on the stock market with a whopping $5 billion IPO set for March. They’re ensuring all their ducks are in a row and taking giant strides to bolster investor confidence pre-IPO. After all, timing is everything in the game of stocks. And Reddit’s playing its cards pretty well. Showcasing revenue from AI could attract investors to the company’s stock market debut.

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• Reddit signed a $60M deal to provide user content for AI training
• It comes right before Reddit’s planned $5B IPO in March
• Risks backlash from Reddit users over data use

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Reddit Sells User Data to Fuel AI Systems, Risking Backlash

Let’s break down some key points:

• Reddit signed a $60M deal to provide user content for AI training
• Comes right before Reddit’s $5B IPO in March
• Would allow posts and comments to enhance AI systems if confirmed
• Risks backlash from the Reddit community over data use
• Users rebelled before over monetization like API fees
• Ethics debated around firms using public data to advance AI
• Reddit hasn’t confirmed the deal, but it would be a significant strategy shift
• Shows rising value/controversy of monetizing public social data for AI
• The deal could make Reddit the latest flashpoint in the AI data ethics debate

If confirmed, the deal would allow Reddit’s massive trove of posts, comments, and discussions from its over 50 million daily active users to enhance large language models or develop new AI tools. 

Remember how they’ve pushed back against making money schemes in the past? We all know these folks don’t take kindly to attempts at monetization, and this could well be another powder keg waiting to explode.

Thousands of subreddits shut down last year in protest over Reddit’s plans to charge fees for API access. They’ve scrubbed years’ worth of private chats from their archives. But that’s not all; they’ve also removed automated moderating features and removed ad customization options.

The debate centers on the ethics involved – some folks believe it’s perfectly fine since the data is publicly available. Imagine having your details used to improve an AI system you know nothing about or didn’t agree with in principle. That could feel invasive. 

If this deal goes through, Reddit could become the latest battleground in the tug-of-war over profiting from user-generated content – it’s akin to Hollywood directors capitalizing on best-selling novels by transforming them into blockbuster films, except here, it’s users’ posts that are being monetized instead of literary works.

Reddit has not confirmed the reported AI training pact. They’d start raking in cash from the treasure trove of user data.

How Reddit users will react to the platform potentially profiting from their content to fuel artificial intelligence remains to be seen. 

This arrangement throws a spotlight on how much value AI builders are finding in data from social media. But, it could be smoother sailing – tech companies are catching more heat when they try to make money off this info. 

They’re right to ask those questions because we’re talking about using real people’s words and thoughts here for profit-making machines. Still, the importance of such freely available online chatter must be addressed by those trying to create smarter AIs. That way, everyone wins: Reddit users feel safe while artificial intelligence gets more intelligent, thanks to their contribution.